I know that this blog is about magick, but every once in a while it becomes necessary to stand up for the ecology of the planet. I wish to alert you to the common use of a highly dangerous chemical known as DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide).

Even though DHMO is a known danger (it’s the major component of acid rain), it’s still in heavy use around the world as a solvent and coolant, including in nuclear reactors. Trying to find information about DHMO can be difficult. Below is an image of its atomic structure taken from a Bulgarian website:

DHMO is known as one of the principle causes of environmental erosion including causing the weakening of vital metals through enhanced oxidation. It has caused numerous automobile deaths and injuries by damaging brakes and electronic systems. It’s found in many pesticides and can be found in large quantities in oceans, lakes, streams, and even in the Arctic ice pack.

DHMO is also found in most “junk” foods, especially soft drinks (both regular and calorie free). Excess consumption of DHMO has shown to produce bloating, increased urination, increased sweating, and directly kills 1.2 million people every year, more than half of the victims being children. It’s used in the production of styrofoam, in destructive mining practices, in animal testing, and is found in wounds and excised tumors. One of the largest users of DHMO is the military, often receiving vast quantities of the substance through an elaborate system of underground transportation, frequently right under major cities in the U.S. and other countries. The military also stores DHMO in dangerously unguarded and potentially unsafe tankers and containers for distribution.

Even though DHMO causes untold deaths and billions of dollars of damage to business and the environment every yearâ€”much of which cannot be repairedâ€”the U.S. government refuses to do anything to stop the production and distribution of this dangerous chemical. I would urge you to write, email, and call your congressional representative and Senators and demand that they take action to stop, once and for all, this dangerous chemical commonly known asâ€¦

WATER.

Yep. It’s just water. And yet every claim I made about it above is absolutely accurate. The DHMO story began with a science fair project by a 14-year-old boy in 1997. If you fell for it, you’re not the only one. Governments from New Zealand to California have almost passed laws about this substance.

Magick and True Skepticism

With the ubiquity of the internet, anyone can say anything and in hours it seems to become an accepted “fact.” If you want to be a magician, it’s important to be above that. I suggest being a “true skeptic.”

Today, many people equate being a skeptic with being a debunker because some publicity-hungry, insecure individuals have usurped the word “skeptic” to mean “refusing to accept anything that doesn’t fit into my world view and attacking anything and anyone who questions that view.” Â I would remind those people of the words of the philosopher Herbert Spencer who wrote,

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignoranceâ€”that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

True Skepticism (or perhaps more accurately “traditional skepticism”) is simply having a questioning attitude, especially about things that are often taken for granted. This is what Dion Fortune meant when she wrote that there is no room for authority in occultism.

As a magician it should be up to you. Is what that author wrote a fact or simply something copied from others? A real magician is a scientist, not a “true believer.” If someone makes claims to high degrees in some magickal Order, are they real or fake? Â If they’re honest, they’ll share the proof with you. Do the magickal techniques he or she writes about or lectures on actually work? Try them out. If they work for you, use them. If they don’t work for you, try to find out why that’s so.

Samantha, although the presentation I gave was, I hope, original, I did not originate the concept. As I stated in the post, that was done by a young man for his science fair project. By all means do use the idea with your students.

Snowy, I think–and please correct me if I’m wrong–what you’re describing as skepticism is more of the negative cynicism that so often masquerades as what I’m referring to as “True Skepticism.” In my opinion True Skepticism is much more a delighted fascination with the possibility of discovering what is real rather than simply denial. I agree with you that the negativity that often presents itself as “skepticism” is a problem.

Mr. Craig,
Delighted that you answered my letter – er – comment. Yes, I’ve had trouble with the “negative cynicism” you mentioned (along with the scientific/medical/pharmaceutical establishment, etc.), and I have an article on my website about that, but I do understand what you mean by “True Skepticism”. It’s just that I believe that over-intellectualizing magick (or anything else), even with an open mind, isn’t necessarily the best path. Perhaps this is because my path is that of the intuitive side of magick – animal magick, shamanism, etc. – but I feel that intuitive wisdom and honed instincts are even more important in magick.

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